spookypony
Well-Known Member
I was very apprehensive about today's ride; so much so, that I woke up at 5am rather than the planned 7am (the ride is very near, so no early start for once!). The reason for my concern was principally that, due to restrictions of forestry works and shooting season, what is normally a straightforward forest ride was to take place largely in stubble fields. Many of them. Following a strange looping pattern of "Go round field counter-clockwise. Go in to next field and go round it counter-clockwise. Repeat. Go into next field, and go round it---you guessed it---counter-clockwise! 
I was envisioning loads of horses circling and circling these fields at some speed, seeing others ahead, behind, and in the field next door all doing the same thing, and progressively getting more loopy as the ride continued! Altogether, it did not sound like a good plan, with my field-phobia...
Nevertheless, I don't like withdrawing out of pure chickenitis, so off we went, all decked out in our increasingly complete---and increasingly ridiculous---royal blue matchy-matchy. By this point, we're up to: (for me) hat silk (metallic), gloves, shirt, stick; (for the pony) saddle cloth (with pockets on and dead sheep), bridle, ribbon on mane plait, and, if applicable, power straps on his Easyboots. Our intrepid companions were the same as on the two previous time I've done this ride, and included a pony trying for his second Bronze Thistle Qualifier.
New for the pony and me was the freedom not to nominate a Speed Category (within which you have to arrive, or collect penalties): since we got our Bronze Thistle Final last month, we're exempt forever more, and can go as fast or as slow as we like (as long as we're above 9.5 kph).
After a first enforced walk section, we bravely set out trotting along the first massive stubble field, and were soon passed in canter by another trio. Thankfully, and surprisingly to me, the pony consented to stick with his friends, with only a minor attempt to pi$$ off. A few fields later, we got to take refuge on a long section of forestry track, which allowed us to up our speed considerably. This section took us past the half-way point, and I was a lot calmer by the time we finished it. Which was good, because next...
...was the crazy loopy section of lots of neighbouring fields! There had been a route change, which meant looping around one of these fields twice, and precisely the situation I had worried about became apparent, of lots of people circling neighbouring fields simultaneously. However, by this point, the pony was much calmer, and even consented to walking for quite a long stretch while we waited for the BTQ-trying pony to get his second wind. Which he soon got!
After this (and a big cattle-towing tractor) came a route change that required us to turn away from the venue, to repeat the opening large-field-circling exercise. At this point, I had my only real argument with the pony, since he was pretty sure that the way home was actually to follow some Pleasure riders, rather than to head in the opposite direction. He was right, but unfortunately for him, we still had that last loop to do, so a certain degree of tugging and smacking happened, after which harmony was restored.
We had enough time in hand to walk a good portion of the way in, and by this point, the wind had settled, the fog dissipated, and it was warm and sunny. The pony was quick to cool off, and I was hopeful when presenting to the vet, even though he was a ... man!! This scary personage had been very very sweet to the pony at the initial trot-up---he remembered him from a Pleasure ride last year, when the pony had taken one look at him and immediately backed across the trailer park---and he was similarly kind at the vetting. His heart-rate before the trot-up was 47---just one point inside Gold range---so suspense was high as he took the final heart-rate after the trot-up...aaaaaaaaaaaand...46! GOLD!!! I was ridiculously delighted!
...which didn't stop me from snaffling a surplus Helpers' Lunch bag... Home-baked cookies therein today, score!!
So despite having done very little since the Championships in August, being rather rotund and also very furry (no clipping), my wee pony is clearly still fit enough to bound around a 30km course with a Gold heart-rate and perfect scores on all the other elements of the vetting. What a good pony! The worry I had after the Champs, that he might have sussed out the distance thing and decide he's tired of that, too, appears not to apply. He appeared eager as ever, if possibly slightly more settled, so perhaps he's just learning his job! (And the BTQ pony got his grading, too!)
Home-baked stolen cookies and raspberry-apple juice if you got this far!
I was envisioning loads of horses circling and circling these fields at some speed, seeing others ahead, behind, and in the field next door all doing the same thing, and progressively getting more loopy as the ride continued!
Altogether, it did not sound like a good plan, with my field-phobia... Nevertheless, I don't like withdrawing out of pure chickenitis, so off we went, all decked out in our increasingly complete---and increasingly ridiculous---royal blue matchy-matchy. By this point, we're up to: (for me) hat silk (metallic), gloves, shirt, stick; (for the pony) saddle cloth (with pockets on and dead sheep), bridle, ribbon on mane plait, and, if applicable, power straps on his Easyboots. Our intrepid companions were the same as on the two previous time I've done this ride, and included a pony trying for his second Bronze Thistle Qualifier.
New for the pony and me was the freedom not to nominate a Speed Category (within which you have to arrive, or collect penalties): since we got our Bronze Thistle Final last month, we're exempt forever more, and can go as fast or as slow as we like (as long as we're above 9.5 kph).
After a first enforced walk section, we bravely set out trotting along the first massive stubble field, and were soon passed in canter by another trio. Thankfully, and surprisingly to me, the pony consented to stick with his friends, with only a minor attempt to pi$$ off.
A few fields later, we got to take refuge on a long section of forestry track, which allowed us to up our speed considerably. This section took us past the half-way point, and I was a lot calmer by the time we finished it. Which was good, because next......was the crazy loopy section of lots of neighbouring fields!
There had been a route change, which meant looping around one of these fields twice, and precisely the situation I had worried about became apparent, of lots of people circling neighbouring fields simultaneously. However, by this point, the pony was much calmer, and even consented to walking for quite a long stretch while we waited for the BTQ-trying pony to get his second wind. Which he soon got! After this (and a big cattle-towing tractor) came a route change that required us to turn away from the venue, to repeat the opening large-field-circling exercise. At this point, I had my only real argument with the pony, since he was pretty sure that the way home was actually to follow some Pleasure riders, rather than to head in the opposite direction. He was right, but unfortunately for him, we still had that last loop to do, so a certain degree of tugging and smacking happened, after which harmony was restored.
We had enough time in hand to walk a good portion of the way in, and by this point, the wind had settled, the fog dissipated, and it was warm and sunny. The pony was quick to cool off, and I was hopeful when presenting to the vet, even though he was a ... man!!
This scary personage had been very very sweet to the pony at the initial trot-up---he remembered him from a Pleasure ride last year, when the pony had taken one look at him and immediately backed across the trailer park---and he was similarly kind at the vetting. His heart-rate before the trot-up was 47---just one point inside Gold range---so suspense was high as he took the final heart-rate after the trot-up...aaaaaaaaaaaand...46! GOLD!!! I was ridiculously delighted! ...which didn't stop me from snaffling a surplus Helpers' Lunch bag...
Home-baked cookies therein today, score!! So despite having done very little since the Championships in August, being rather rotund and also very furry (no clipping), my wee pony is clearly still fit enough to bound around a 30km course with a Gold heart-rate and perfect scores on all the other elements of the vetting. What a good pony! The worry I had after the Champs, that he might have sussed out the distance thing and decide he's tired of that, too, appears not to apply. He appeared eager as ever, if possibly slightly more settled, so perhaps he's just learning his job!
(And the BTQ pony got his grading, too!)Home-baked stolen cookies and raspberry-apple juice if you got this far!
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